£80 Aldi tablet sells out in 24 hours

Aldi has proven the demand for low-cost tablets is not wavering,
as its 7-inch offering sells out in 24 hours.

"The queues outside Aldi stores on Sunday 8 December for our
Specialbuy Lifetab E7316, demonstrate shoppers' enthusiasm for
quality electronic equipment at affordable prices," an Aldi
spokesperson postulated in a statement. "Demand for the Aldi
Lifetab E7316 was exceptionally high and the product has now sold
out."

The supermarket chain joined the ranks of Tesco and Argos when
it launched the Android tablet on 8 December. The £79.99 Medion
Lifetab E7316 comes with a 1.6GHz quadcore processor, 8GB memory,
USB port, front and rear camera and a 1,024 x 600 pixels display.
Its competitor, the Hudl
from Tesco, is a very similar offering in terms of size and
processor, but with 16GB memory, a 1,440x900 pixel display and a
£119 price tag. The Argos MyTablet again came with very similar
specs, and a £99 price tag. It too, has sold out, with the
manufacturer blaming the fact that demand outstripped supply, much
like now. Speculation has it, though, that the lack of MyTablets on the
shelves is in fact down to its poor quality and reception (it had
been widely critiqued for being slow).

At the time, an Argos spokesperson said "availability is very,
very low. We don't yet know when new stock will be available". The
statement somewhat mirrors the situation at Aldi this week, with
the release milking the customer attention: "Any consumers that
didn't manage to get hold of one should keep an eye on the
Specialbuys we've got coming up in store over the coming months as
we continue to offer something new every Thursday and Sunday."

If MyTablet had been as successful an enterprise as Argos
claimed, it seems it would have been prepared to meet demand by
now. Equally, it looks like Aldi is testing the waters and
seeing what comes of its offering as the reviews trickle in.

When Wired.co.uk contacted Aldi to find out exactly how many had
been in that sold out stock, one spokesperson said the company
could not release that information at this time. Without knowing
that figure, the proud exclamations of "sold out" are not worth a
great deal, except to acknowledge the fact this is a market we will
see more of. We know that Hudl
has "sold out" twice since its launch, but we also know that to
date that means 300,000 units have shifted. Aldi appears to be
wisely playing it safe, generating buzz for its low-cost device in
the run up to Christmas with its promise of Thursday and Sunday
special offers.